5/16/18 Game Preview: Toronto Blue Jays at New York Mets

5/16/18 Game Preview: Toronto Blue Jays at New York Mets

Did you know that the Toronto Blue Jays have never beaten the Mets in Queens? Like, ever? Well after Tuesday night’s 12-2 loss to the Flushing Nine, they have one more chance to do it before they have to wait three to six more years. (That sounds like a prison sentence.) The Jays and our hometown heroes go at it again at 1:10 today at Citi Field.

Feb 21, 2018; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets third baseman Phillip Evans (72) displays his name tags before photo day at First Data Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

How To Enjoy

Television Coverage: It’s SNY for the hometown coverage, probably minus Keith since he’ll probably be promoting his book for another month or so. Sportsnet if you find yourself in Toronto. It’s a whole other country so there may be a language barrier.

Radio Coverage: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes 1050, or in Toronto you can find it on SN590 The FAN. And for heaven’s sake if you’re in Toronto, just take the five hour train ride to Montreal and have a bagel from St. Viateur. Just trust me.

(And if you’re in Calgary, Sportsnet 960 is where you can find the game on radio. What you’re doing in Calgary is none of my business.)

The Pitchers

Zack Wheeler is 2-2 with a 5.03 ERA. Did you know that Wheeler is among the top pitchers in the league when it comes to giving up hard contact?

J.A. Happ is 4-3 with a 4.80 ERA. If you look at the above list, Happ is 21st in allowing the least amount of hard contact. Combine that with the fact that this is getaway day, well … good luck to all you hitters out there.

Curtis Granderson gets another shot to lead off. He has a t-shirt night coming up in Toronto.

Game Notes

Yoenis Cespedes is batting .227 with a home run off Happ in his career. Of course, his injury makes this a moot point, but it’s part of a larger theme with Happ.

Jose Reyes is hitting .095 against Happ. If they have to invent an injury for Reyes to keep him off the field today, they probably should.

Jay Bruce is hitting .200 against Happ. Is there good news out there?

Jason Bay is hitting a career .400 off Happ. This would have been good news in 2010.

In six games, Happ has a 2.60 ERA pitching to today’s catcher: Luke Maile. Happ’s larger sample size is a career 3.44 ERA pitching to Russell Martin. If Martin wants to make the full time switch to shortstop after last night, this could be a problem for Happ.

Russell Martin is just the sixth player in the live ball era with >2500 PA, >300 games at catcher, and at least one game at shortstop.